Down economy drives up number of Collier cab companies

Naples resident Lisa-Marie Knight heads into Wal-mart after riding with Taxi Time driver William Venegas on Friday, March 20, 2009, in Naples. David Albers/Staff

Daily News

NAPLES - The number of licensed vehicle-for-hire companies has jumped from 100 in 2008 to 148 so far this year, a 48 percent increase, but the number of licensed vehicle-for-hire drivers has dropped 20 percent, from 1,107 in 2008 to 881 so far this year.

Collier County is crawling with more companies running taxi, limousine and shuttle services, with the number of licensed operators at a five-year high, county figures show.

The number of licensed vehicle-for-hire companies has jumped from 100 in 2008 to 148 so far this year, a 48 percent increase, but the number of licensed vehicle-for-hire drivers has dropped 20 percent, from 1,107 in 2008 to 881 so far this year.

"We try to be pro-business," said Michael Ossorio, the county's licensing compliance supervisor.

The reasons for the increase run from the county's changing demographics to workers losing their jobs in a poor economy and starting up a vehicle-for-hire business to eke out a living, cab company owners say. About a quarter of licensed companies have only one or two cars, county records show.

Some cab company owners don't necessarily welcome the proliferation of what they see as inferior licensed — and they say too often unlicensed — companies.

"I feel like somebody let a goat loose in my garden," said Taxi Time manager Kenny Mastrodomenico. "I've been tending that garden for 15 years."

From revelers on Fifth Avenue South to grocery shoppers in Golden Gate, the demand for cabs often turns downtown streets and shopping center parking lots into moveable taxi stands.

If the mostly Spanish-speaking cab drivers and cab riders are any indication, much of the demand in Golden Gate is fueled by the neighborhood's Hispanic population.

"It created a niche for them out there," Mastrodomenico said. "Their own people wanted to start taking care of their own."

The growing Hispanic market has gotten the attention of Southwest Florida Transportation Group owner Phillip Griffin, whose companies include Yellow Cab — and more recently Taxi Amarillo, which uses the Spanish word for yellow and Spanish speaking dispatchers and drivers.

"We've had to adjust," Griffin said.

Many Hispanic families rely on cabs because they cannot afford gas or car insurance or don't have the necessary documents to get a driver's license, the county's Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board Chairman Manny Gonzalez said.

"They're trying to abide by the law," Gonzalez said.

He worries, though, that this leaves undocumented immigrants vulnerable to unscrupulous cabbies looking to take advantage of their reliance with hefty fares, especially for essential trips such as to the hospital from Immokalee.

In downtown Naples, the City Council has wrestled with complaints about cabs clogging streets looking for fares, something Mastrodomenico calls a "vulture pack mentality."

"That's gotten totally out of control," he said.

Mastrodomenico said the scene also is a magnet for unlicensed taxi drivers, who often don't work with dispatch centers or by phone calls and rely on street business.

Ossorio, the county licensing supervisor, said code enforcement officials and the Collier County Sheriff's Office conduct regular spot checks for unlicensed cabs and drivers, particularly on high school prom nights or at major hotels.

The array of annual licenses needed to drive a vehicle-for-hire legally costs $650; they come with criminal background checks, and licenses are denied to anyone with a felony conviction in the past five years, a conviction in the past three years of any crime involving the sale or possession of a controlled substance or a conviction in the past three years for DUI.

Cars also must be inspected by a mechanic annually, and companies must maintain certain levels of car insurance coverage or lose their licenses.

Driving without the required insurance comes with a $1,000 fine, operating a vehicle for hire without a license comes with a $1,000 fine and driving without a driver's license carries a fine of $500 up to $2,000 for repeat offenses.

The 2009 law that regulates vehicle-for-hire licensing in Collier County also did away with a county board stacked with existing cab company owners that had the final say on whether a new company got a license.

Ossorio said giving that job to county workers makes the system more fair and balanced, but critics say it has made it too easy for unqualified companies to get a license.

Griffin, with Southwest Florida Transportation Group, said he doesn't fault anybody for trying to start a business to feed a family or make a better life.

"This is America, you can do it all day long, and that's fine — if you do it right," he said.